Alternative Energy

[gotmilk]

"cost of the panels never got low enough"

My apologies to this board for not yet reading all the posts,
but just jump'n in and not knowing what has already been discussed.

If the iBox for this board:
Alternative Energy (ALTNRG) | Show Board Info
Was redesigned to replace Bob's chatter with updated technology to reflect
what is available for home usage, then others could more easy join in
and learn & add from this board.

First needed is Bob's current iBox to be worded as a "Mission Statement" to identify
in a "do it yourself cheap & easy" solutions for the home to collect energy
as electricity or heat from the sun, wind or ground and use that for
common usages like heat the water in an outdoor pond or inners of a garage.

Once that is upfront as an introduction various companies with technologies suitable
to be looked into can be listed.

For example: http://www.konarka.com/

Konarka develops light-activated power plastic that is flexible, lightweight, lower in cost
and much more versatile in application than traditional silicon-based solar cells.

But in my quick scan of the site I can't locate any numbers of energy or costs.

News: "Senate blocks Alaska oil drilling"

This might really put a "fire" under coal usage and "light-up" the wealth of those
having coal on their property zoned to allow it to be mined.

Zeev knows the history of something called "low rank coal"
http://www.undeerc.org/aboutus/pastevents/conferences/LRF/index.asp
Low-rank coal comprises about half of both current utilization and the reserves in the United States and is the largest energy resource in the United States, Russia, Central Europe, and much of the Pacific Rim. Coal-based generation is expected to grow by 25% over the next two decades, supplying 46% of a larger total demand by 2020.

Actually the company Maxam Gold (pink MXAM) is hyped to have a process
to extract precious metals from "fly ash" from burning coal.

doug